


Bruises That'll Never Heal--The Where It All Went Wrong Job

by crayonbreakygal



Category: Leverage
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Drama, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, Dubious Consent, F/M, Non-Consensual Drug Use
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-19
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-02-04 05:55:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 12
Words: 11,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12764568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crayonbreakygal/pseuds/crayonbreakygal
Summary: Sophie traced the bruises over his body like she was tracing a line on a map, delicately, but with purpose, trying to find her way out.  Takes place after season five.





	1. Bruises That'll Never Heal

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so I went there. I ended up editing it down a bit so it wasn't so crazy and harsh. There are non-con parts to it though, especially if you think that Nate or Sophie doesn't actually consent to what it going on. Implied torture too, but not shown. So this might not be your thing. I put every rating just in case.

The Where It All Went Wrong Job

Takes place after season five.

Chapter One--Bruises That’ll Never Heal

Sophie traced the bruises over his body like she was tracing a line on a map, delicately, but with purpose, trying to find her way out.  There was no way out this time.  It was only her and her wits that might just get them out alive, but not without scars. So many scars.

“Now what?” he groaned out loud.

“You’ll do as I say,” she commanded, knowing that this was the right thing to do.

Sophie now hated Annie Kroy with a passion.  She was so much fun to play a long time ago, when she didn’t have ties. Now she’d love to choke the life out of this persona.  Even though this was the persona that was going to keep him, keep them alive for a bit longer.

Sophie, aka, Annie Kroy, dug her fingers into the fresh bruises once again.

“Your skin is so beautiful.”

Sophie would never call Nathan Ford’s battered skin beautiful.  Annie would relish in causing the bruising that had formed on his skin.  She never tortured anyone, but it certainly did have its appeal.

“Too hard,” Nate winced.

“Not hard enough,” she growled back in his ear.

How had they come this far?  When had this job gone so terribly wrong?  It had seemed fairly simple at first, but then had gone completely sideways, leaving her no choice but to take Annie Kroy out of her toolbox.  If this was her Oscar winning performance, she most certainly had to make it perfect.

At least they’d let her clean Nate up, wipe away the blood. The cuts were shallow thank goodness. The bruises were now turning shades of black and green and brown. His lip was split on the lower right hand corner of his mouth, the side of his face had turned a brilliant shade of purple. There were finger marks, yes finger marks along his throat where someone had held him tight while beating him.  The skin over the ribs was black and blue, but at least he was breathing alright, so no broken ribs.  Yet.  When she touched him, she could tell he’d taken a few shots to the kidneys since he was very tender there.  Shallow cuts covered his chest and upper thighs. Why they’d chosen to make cuts there made Sophie shiver.  The bottoms of his feet were swollen, cuts from when he tried to escape a few days prior. His knuckles had been bloodied, like he was fighting back. She’d cleaned them up, but with nothing to dress them in, he’d have to deal with having them exposed.

His biceps also held more shallow cuts, along with a massive bruise on one of his shoulders. Underneath it all, she could still see the scars from his various gunshot wounds: his side from the Maltese Falcon job, shoulder from the job in Juan, shoulder from Paris. That one was entirely her fault.

She’d come to save him, if this was what you’d call saving.  Slipping in and out of this character was the only idea she’d come up with once they’d all realized Nate was in deep trouble.

“This isn’t a good idea,” he said as his breath hitched at the last word.

“They’re watching,” she breathed out into his ear, so soft that no one else could hear.

She’d have to make it look good. Damn, even with all the injuries he had, he still responded to her touch.

“No choice,” she told him as she bit his ear.

“Please don’t,” he begged her. 

Nate never begged her.

“It’ll help,” she said as her hands wandered down his chest.

“I’m not sure I can.”

Taking his face in her hands, not gently, she looked down at him.

“You will,” she demanded.

As she lowered her breast into his mouth, she trapped his hands above his head, careful not to hold too tight. His wrists were still bruised from days of being tied to a chair.  If Nate didn’t think he’d be able to perform, he was sadly mistaken.  Unfortunately he was being way too careful with her, almost gentle. She didn’t need gentle right now.  She wanted to hurt as much as he did, even though she knew it wasn’t possible.

“Harder,” she told him as she increased the pressure on his hands.

He complied, which meant he actually bit down on her, making her arch her back in response.

“Bastard,” she said as she shifted her body for him to take the other side.

Letting his hands go, she yanked on his hair, bringing his head to exactly where she wanted it to be. His tongue and mouth worked on the other side, small bites included. She could feel where he’d bitten on one side, not drawing blood but coming close. As his tongue rolled her nipple roughly, she squeezed her thighs tightly against his chest. His hands now stroked her skin, calloused, dry and cracked from days without being cleaned. He’d smelled so bad when he was brought to her, having been in isolation for so long.  Sophie had taken her time cleaning him, even if it did open up some of the cuts on his body.  She just hoped that infection did not set in.

“I’m going to fuck you now,” Sophie declared, playing to the audience for the most part, but also wanting Nate to know what she planned.

He chuckled a little, then winced as her body brushed up against the more sore parts of his body. Since turnabout was fair play, she eased herself down, licking and sucking his chest, avoiding any cuts as she did.

Taking him in her mouth, she wanted to make damn sure he’d not last very long. Sure, this was a show, but it didn’t mean it had to be a contest to see how long he’d last.  He gripped the sheets beside her head. He usually tugged on her hair, but now he was just in the moment, probably attempting to not make any of the injuries any worse.

“Oh, no, no, no. Not like that, sweetheart.”

Shit, shit and double shit. When had he walked into the room?  He’d agreed to let her handle this, to take her pleasure and leave Nate be. Now here he was, directing what she was doing.

“What are you talking about?” Sophie forcefully asked. “I’ll have you know…”

The man backhanded her, drawing blood.

“You’ll do as I say, Annie, or your boyfriend won’t last the night.”

“You’ll pay for this.”

“Oh, I will? Who has the advantage right now?”

Well, he did, but he didn’t know Annie Kroy at all, now did he?

“Just relax and let’s have some fun. Your boy toy there looks like he is.”

Nate’s jaw clenching made him look like he was going to murder the man once it was feasible. 

“Although he’s a little old. Hey, the other, darker one would have been more fun, if you just let me.”

“No,” Sophie answered back quickly.

Hardison. There was no way she’d let the man hurt Hardison any more than he did already. 

“Yeah, he’s much prettier with all these bruises. Gotta give him another dose soon. Get on with it.”

Drugs.  She could see from the look in Nate’s eyes that whatever the man had given him was wearing off. He wasn’t so lethargic now, although with all the injuries he had, he wasn’t at the top of his game. 

Sophie didn’t understand the man’s obsession with making Nate suffer. She closed her eyes, hoping against hope that this mad man wasn’t going to suggest what she thought he was.

“Hey, you’re lucky I’m giving you that, Kroy.  I wanna see him fuck you. Now.”

The two very large bodyguards grinned at her, like they were just hoping that she’d try something.

“You might wanna get busy there, Ford.”

“Fucking bastard,” Nate responded.

“Thought you might want to have some fun. Get to it.”

The look of sorrow in his eyes was hard to take at that point. She’d do just about anything to get him out of there, short of killing him.  This was nothing, a piece of cake.  They’d put on a show, then figure a way out. Or hopefully Eliot would find them.


	2. The Search Is On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eliot and Parker start the search for their team members.

Chapter Two—The Search Is On

“Where are they?” Eliot yelled at Sterling for the tenth time that hour.

“If I knew, we’d be there already.”

“Why did you ask them to help?”

This shitshow went sideways the minute Sterling asked Sophie and Nate to help him.  Clusterfuck to the nth degree.

“Because I had no other choice.  I needed Nate’s expertise, then I needed Annie Kroy.  She went in to save them.”

“You didn’t need shit, Sterling.  You just needed to save face.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Parker twirling something in her hands. Oh dammit, it’s a knife. Without even looking, he held up his hand Parker’s way.

“Don’t,” he told her before she regretted what she had planned.

“If Alec has one bruise, one cut on him, I swear,” Parker ranted.

“Don’t you fucking realize this was not the plan,” Sterling reminded the two.

“No, it’s plan M, Sterling. The one plan that Nate never used because someone dies.” Or plan Z, because in plan Z Nate was gone, as was Hardison.

“Hardison dies in plan M,” Parker said to Eliot, tears now forming. “And if Hardison dies, then I won’t be responsible for what happens next.”

That reminded Eliot of the time when he told Parker that only she and he could do what the rest could not.  Leave the body, take the hits, kill the bad guy, whatever it took. Parker knew this, realized this, took ownership of this with him.  Hardison couldn’t hurt a flea. Sophie never would get her hands dirty, unless she was Annie Kroy.  Nate, now Nate could and would get his hands dirty. His problem was the fact that he’d probably not kill the mark but make him pay in ways that would make the mark want to die.  No blood on your hands if you did that.  Eliot would rather just give the bastard a bullet to the head and be done with it. Parker wouldn’t ever hesitate to do the same.

“What are your people telling you?”

Sterling sighed, disgusted it seemed.  “People? They took out at least four of my agents. Left me body parts, alright.  If I’d known, I would never have sent Nate or Sophie in there.”

“Then why is Alec in there? What in hell happened?”

Having Parker agitated would not help matters in the least.

“Nate must have called him for info. That’s all I can find out. I really am sor...”

“Do not finish that statement if you want to live to see tomorrow.”

Damn, and here Eliot was only afraid of Sophie sometimes. Now he might have to be wary of Parker on her bad days.

Their one saving grace was the fact that Sophie went in as Annie Kroy. That and only that might keep Nate and Hardison alive. Jesus that woman was scary.  That was the only persona that Eliot could say that scared him. He often wondered if Annie had killed anyone. 

Parker’s cell phone pinged just as she twirled the knife in her hands again.

“I know where Hardison is,” she announced as she typed out something on the screen.

“Did he get free?” Eliot wondered as he rushed over to her.

“No, but he managed to send me this.”

Eliot looked at the screen, seeing in real time where they just might be.

“I hope that didn’t cost him.”

The look of murder that passed through Parker had Eliot hoping the same thing, because if it did and Hardison was hurt, then he’d do the job himself. He’d have to stop Parker from doing anything stupid.


	3. Hardison Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hardison uses what he learned to plan an escape.

Chapter Three—Hardison Plans

Alec Hardison was getting better at lifting phones. Practicing with Parker constantly, now he could do it without much effort. It would take mere seconds to ping Parker his position before the other man would realize that he lifted the phone from his pocket.  Putting it back would take more effort and gain him a punch to the stomach, but it would be worth it if the guard noticed.  And the guard didn’t know what he’d done.

At least he was relatively injury free, compared to Nate.  Nate had been Richie’s personal punching bag over the last week.  He’d seen his former boss only a few times, only when they’d tired of using him.  He’d seen Sophie once and she wasn’t talking at all. Behind the look of disdain she’d given him, he could see the real Sophie peeking out from underneath. God, he hoped that her subterfuge kept them all alive for a while longer.  Eliot was on his way, he was sure.  Hardison hoped that Parker wouldn’t be joining the hitter, but he knew that was going to be next to impossible.  Eliot would need her help to rescue the three of them.

The room where they’d kept him only had a rickety cot and a toilet. It was cold at night, making him shiver down to his bones.  Hardison kept planning an escape in his mind every single second he was held captive.  Any advantage, any ideas were quickly put into categories, sorted and made useful.  He knew what side of the building he was on, knew that it was in some kind of industrial complex. He also knew there was wifi since he could see the signal when he lifted the phone from the guy’s pocket.  He could hear a train off in the distance, so they weren’t too far from railroad tracks.

What he didn’t want to hear was Nate’s screaming off in the distance.  How long had they tortured him?  Days, it must have been days.  The bruises and cuts he’d seen a few days prior were fresh. Nate had just nodded when he was thrown into the room with Hardison, eyes glazed from pain and something else.  They must have been drugging him too, to keep him from fighting back.  What else had they done to the poor man?

This was supposed to be a simple job, set up by Sterling.  They all were just supposed to observe, not even have contact with the mark. The hacking had been simple. That should have tipped him off and had him remarking that very thing to Nate the day before he’d been taken.  That probably meant that Sterling had a mole somewhere in his organization.

Hardison had worried too about being drugged, but he felt fine except for sitting on his ass for days on end.  When Sophie, or Annie Kroy, had entered his room a day ago, Hardison realized that they were all up shit’s creek without a paddle. If she’d brought out Annie to play, then things weren’t going to get any easier.

What blew his mind though was how sexual Sophie acted. It took all of his effort to not react as she stroked up and down his chest.  He knew it was all an act, but damn she was enticing when she wanted to be.  And Nate would kick his ass from here to the ends of the earth if he found out that Hardison had a hard on from Sophie just touching him.

So Hardison thought about getting punched by Eliot and rappelling down twenty story buildings where Parker had pushed him.  He thought about all the times when they’d almost been blown up, shot at, and basically been in danger from a case. That quelled any kind of sexual response for the time being.  Now if Sophie stuck around for longer, it would be much more difficult.

“Gotta be gay,” one of the guards hinted as Hardison watched Sophie stroke his thigh.

Well, maybe a little, but that didn’t mean Hardison didn’t like what Sophie was doing.  Whether it was Eliot or Parker doing it, it didn’t matter to him at all.  Being fluid with partner choice didn’t make you anything other than head over heels in love. Why’d he have to choose? He was so lucky that Parker didn’t make him choose or want him to choose.  Eliot didn’t care one way or another.

“Girls, boys, I’d say he didn’t care which way,” Sophie pointed out as she brushed up against him. “But he’s not the one I want to play with.”

“Boss won’t let you touch the other one.”

So Sophie hadn’t seen Nate yet. 

“Well, considering how you guys worked him over,” Hardison added.

He was lucky that Sophie had turned her head away when she found out that Nate had been tortured.  If looks could kill, then Sophie perfected it in one moment. He could see the steel behind her eyes.

“That was not what we agreed to.”

“You’ll have to take that up with the boss.”

He ushered Sophie out then, leaving Hardison to stew and plan.  That was a day ago. He just hoped that Nate had stayed alive long enough for Eliot and Parker to rescue them.


	4. Nate Does Not Want An Audience

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nate starts to come down from whatever they gave him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Explicit part in this chapter.

Chapter Four—Nate Does Not Want An Audience

Nate looked down at the bed, at Sophie’s hands. He could see them shake just slightly, like she was attempting to hold it together for the both of them.

“I’m not going to rape her.”

“Didn’t say you had to.  By the looks of things, she’d let you do just about anything to her. Isn’t that right, sweetheart?  Hands and knees, Kroy. I wanna see that sweet ass.”

So the mark could see through what they’d tried to hide.  Even after retiring, after giving it all up, Nate thought they could just pick up where they’d left off.  Only Nate was older, Sophie was out of practice and now they were royally screwed, literally.

Plain vanilla, prom night, Catholic upbringing, married at a young age. It was only with Sophie that Nate had explored a little in bed. Neither one had ever pushed for anything too outside the norm, but Sophie was definitely more comfortable expressing her likes and dislikes. Nate could count on one hand the number of sexual partners he’d had.  He couldn’t even guess nor wanted to know how many Sophie had over the years. Not that it mattered. She would always be faithful to him, and vice versa.

She’d shown him a few things over the years, opening his eyes to things other than the missionary position.  Having sex in front of three other guys wasn’t one of them, nor was forcing her into something he knew might scar her for life. 

The mark grabbed Nate and pushed him down on the bed forcefully. Whatever drugs they’d been feeding him were wearing off, making him want to vomit and shiver at the same time.  Gone were the days of drinking until he couldn’t see straight. At least he had that going for him. 

“Can’t get it up, loverboy?” Sophie asked as her hand made its way down his body.

“Not with an audience.”

“Don’t be such a prude.”

The look of pleading in Sophie’s eyes told him that no matter what, it was going to be alright.  He didn’t think so though.  Hurting her physically or mentally would ruin everything.

He was not going to hurt her in any way. Only Sophie had other plans, adding moans and groans that went straight to his groin. It was like she was telling him it didn’t matter they had an audience. She was his world right then.  He really did not want to screw this up.

He refused to even look at the mark, refused to acknowledge his presence in the room other than to hear him breathe heavily as he watched what was going on.  Nate tried to block him out entirely, but it wasn’t easy.  Maybe that’s why Sophie kept up a running commentary, groaning in all the right places, encouraging him much of the time.

He took his time, went slow, but the fact that she was so hot and tight made him want to pound into her, take his pleasure and be done with it.  Once he was deeply inside of her, he stilled for a moment, to make sure she was alright. He didn’t mean to look to the side, but when he did, he noticed the mark stroking himself. That almost made Nate go soft, but Sophie took that moment to pull away from him, giving him no choice in the matter. 

“Fuck me, Ford,” she cried out in her Annie voice.

It didn’t take long for the two of them to move as one. It was so practiced, so natural to them now, to know what each one wanted. He just hoped that the mark would not notice.

He sped up his pace, hoping to get it over with so they could get the hell out of there. Reaching down between Sophie’s legs, he stroked into her wetness to move things along even more. She cried out suddenly, tightening up against him, sending ripples throughout her body. That set him off, pulling out a long, drawn out orgasm from him.  Sophie collapsed underneath him, stomach and arms now touching the bed. 

Nate had tuned out the guy, which was probably why he was able to finish in the first place. What he didn’t expect was for the guy to jerk off right over them, spraying them as he came. If Nate had anything to vomit right then, he would have.

“Son of a bitch,” Sophie yelled from underneath him. “This is not a porn flick.”

“Give it time. I’m gonna use your boyfriend next time and you can watch.”

And that’s what Nate thought might happen.  While he was getting the shit kicked out of him, he realized that Richie, the mark, got off on seeing him suffer.  The guy sported a raging hard on more times than not as he watched his men work Nate over. 

Lunging at him, Nate was brought to his knees with a punch from one of the guards.

“Thought I’d let you do that to me? Now we’re gonna see what you’re made of, old man.”

Holding his arm still, one of the guards tied a tourniquet onto his arm, found a vein and injected him with something quickly.  It didn’t take long for Nate to start to feel the effects of whatever they’d cooked up. They’d done it many times before in the past week.

“What the hell are you doing, you stupid son of a bitch.  You said you’d give him to me, not turn him into a druggie.”

Nate could see Sophie’s face dance in front of him as the drugs hit his system.  She looked to be an avenging angel instead of just the woman he loved.  She’d hate him after all this was over, if he survived.

Avenging angel indeed.  Sophie stood before him, with only a shirt on, gun pointed directly at Richie. Nate slid to the ground, curling up into a ball.

“He was spying on me, for the government. He and his hacker. I know him. I’ve heard about how he’s some kind of Robin Hood. Didn’t he try to take you on at one point?”

“Which was why I was here to take him with me, you stupid cock.  I needed him to do a job. And no, he’s no Robin Hood. He’s a fucking mad man, but a genius. And now you’ve gone and fucked it up.”

“So, little miss princess. What’re you gonna do about it?”

The gun wavered in his vision, the room starting to move and slide all around him.

“I’ll give you a hundred g just to forget this happened.  Throw in the hacker, and I won’t send my guys after you.”

“You’re gonna have to give me more than an hundred grand for this one. The hacker’s worth five times as much.  Plus, I wanna party with both of them, if you get what I mean. Don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy him fucking you?”


	5. Sophie's Still In Character

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sophie has to keep in character to get Nate and Hardison out.

Chapter Five—Sophie’s Still In Character

Lifting the gun had been easy in the chaos of them injecting Nate with whatever Richie had made.  Holding it on the three of them would be much more difficult. If she took out one, the other two would most likely get to her before she could do much more. And the fact that she had to deal with Nate being drugged put the odds in their favor.

Did she enjoy the audience, the ability to perform in front of them, to show them that she still had it in her to carry through on a con if she needed? She and Nate had been out of the business for a few years, had taken the time to really live together and have fun.  Sterling sometimes would give them puzzles to sort out, but nothing dangerous.  The others would sometimes call them for help. But they were out of the game.

All the times they were running cons though, even the times that Nate got shot, she never felt that this was it, that their time had come.  Now it entered her thoughts.  Even with him being in prison, she always knew they’d find a way to get him out eventually.  The gunshots were nothing compared to what lay at her feet.  He was a mess. In some ways, she wished it was just a gunshot. That she could treat.

No, this was worse than his alcohol addiction. She’d remembered how he was when he went cold turkey all those years ago. He’d slowly reduced his alcohol intake over the years, if not for her, then for himself after his father had died.

“What’d you give him?” Sophie inquired.

“Ah, sweetheart. Why you gotta be like this?”

Sophie took that opportunity to fire the weapon.  She was losing her patience with this scum of the earth.

“Hey, hey. Back off. I gave him the works. My own mix.”

Sophie had always steered clear of any kind of drugs when she was working a job, but that didn’t mean she didn’t see it happen.  Too much money, too many drugs floating around to not see what would happen.

“He can’t work for me, you arse, if he’s coming down. I gotta know.”

Richie grinned back at her, like he was proud of himself.

“Little bit of heroin, roofies, coke. I even threw some meth in, just for fun.”

Shit. The fucking wanker was trying to kill Nate.

“How many times?”

“How many times what?”

“How much did you give him?”

Sophie forcefully pointed the weapon at Richie’s head again.

“Ever since I snagged him.  So much more fun to watch him like this when I cut him.”

“And if you fried his brain?  I gotta a job for him. If you fried his brain, I’ll fry your arse. Do you understand me?”

“You still got the kid.”

Hardison wasn’t exactly a kid anymore, but at least Richie hadn’t done the same to him.  One addict she could deal with. Two would push her over that precarious edge she was teetering. 

“I’ll pay good money for the both of them.”

“Hey, I ain’t seen no money yet.”

It wouldn’t take Hardison long to transfer funds into this asshole’s account.  She watched as Nate stretched out on the floor, eyes staring, unseeing.

“Get some clothes on him. Bring me the hacker. You’ll see your money. And I can get the hell out of here.”

The guards did as they were told, hurriedly dressing Nate.

“Holy shit,” Hardison exclaimed as he was escorted into the room.

Sophie had quickly dressed, although she was sure she looked like she’d gone five rounds in a boxing ring right about that moment. She didn’t dare touch Nate or go near him just in case he blurted out something like her real name in front of their audience.  How could he keep up the con in this condition?

“Oh, it’s the hacker. Nice to see you in one piece there, now isn’t it?  Your friend here is a bit fucked up right now. You’re gonna do a transfer for me. Then we can get the hell out of here.”

“Ok,” Hardison slowly answered her.

Please don’t blow it, she chanted in her mind. 

“How much?” Hardison asked.

Richie took the opportunity to try a move on her, which made the gun come up right between his eyes.

“Oh, you are looking to get wasted, now aren’t you? Two hundred should do it. Now get to it.”

Hardison took his phone, asked Richie about his account information and made the transfer as quickly as he could.  She was sure that the money would appear momentarily but once they were out of danger, if it did indeed happen, Hardison would wipe him out in every way.

“Done,” Hardison replied, showing Richie the transfer completed on the phone.

“They’re worth more than that.”

“Richie, you are lucky I don’t call my guys in to waste you right here. Or I could do it. Your choice. My merchandise has been damaged, you twit.”

“He got the job done,” Richie threw back in her face.

Like Nate had any choice in the matter, just like he didn’t have a choice to be drugged for over a week.

“Pick him up, hacker.  Gotta dry him out so I can use him.”

Hardison, as gently as he could, picked up Nate and draped him over his shoulder.

“Son of a bitch,” Nate groaned out loud.

“Coulda made you my bitch,” Richie called out as Hardison made his way out with Nate.  “Looks like she’ll do the same to you.  You two fuckin’ is the hottest thing I’ve seen in a while.”

Hardison accidentally ran into the door frame, luckily not hitting Nate, but he obviously heard what Richie said.

“Oh, you just gotta open your mouth.”

Sophie knew they were almost out, but Richie just had to run his mouth. 

“For that, I should blow your fucking head off,” Sophie warned as she passed him by.

Instead of shooting him, she used the weight of the gun to knock him upside the head.

“You bitch,” he yelled, only he never got the chance to retaliate.

Eliot made his way around the corner, slamming into Richie before he even had a chance to take a swing at Sophie.

“I think you pissed him right off. Alright, let’s go Hardison,” Sophie told him, still in character. “Told you my people would be here for me.”


	6. They're Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They try to figure out what to do with Nate.

Chapter Six—They’re Out

Hardison was shaking by the time he got Nate out of the building.  Luckily Sterling had enough personnel to take care of everything else, including Richie and his goons.  Parker had come up to his side and wouldn’t let him out of her sight while he loaded Nate into the van.

“Oh, it’s a van. Too hot. It’s too hot,” Nate yelled as Hardison placed him inside.

It wasn’t hot at all. It was actually quite pleasant compared to the inside of the building.

“Where are we? Where are we going?  Soph said. No, what did she say? I don’t remember what she said. Could you tell me what she said?”

“Oh, no,” Parker sighed. “What did they do to him?”

“Shot him up with something.”

Eliot and Sophie came slamming out of the building, Sophie raging mad and Eliot looking to defend himself from her blows if need be.

“Why didn’t you let me kill him?”

Oh shit, she just did not say that.  Sophie wanted to kill Richie? 

“Maybe someone should take that gun away from Sophie?” Parker suggested as she looked back and forth between Nate crawling over into a corner and Sophie attempting to raise the gun toward Eliot.

“Sophie, no. We gotta take care of Nate. Put the damn gun down,” Hardison urged the woman.

“He fucking needs to be wiped off the face of the planet,” Sophie growled at Eliot.

It had been over a week since Hardison was actually outside and breathing fresh air.  It felt good not to be under constant guard, to be able to breathe and make sure he was going to survive this.

“Oh look. So pretty. Parker’s hair is so pretty,” Nate said as his hand moved up and down in front of his face.

“God, what in hell did they give him?” Hardison wondered out loud.

“Get in the van, both of you. Just stop it,” Parker finally intervened on the fight that was about to break out between Eliot and Sophie. “We have to get Nate somewhere safe and all you two can think about is whether to kill the mark or not? Besides, once this is over, don’t think I won’t find him and make him pay. Now move.”

Parker surely had taken the position of leader very seriously over the past few years.  Nate handing the reins over to her had been a good move.  Now she was taking charge because Sophie was in too deep emotionally and Eliot couldn’t figure out whether to rage and kill Sterling or the mark.

“I hope you set something up to bleed that son of a bitch dry, Hardison,” Sophie commented as she climbed into the back of the van.

“It’s like you don’t know me anymore.”

Hardison held up the phone, tapped a few keys, then tossed it back to Sophie.

“He is burned. He’ll have more law enforcement crawling up his ass in every country I can name plus the money had just suddenly disappeared. And I might have alerted a few other, shall we say, unsavory characters as to the nature of his arrest. Won’t take them long to find him and show him a good time, if you know what I mean.”

Sophie, not her usual self, glared his way. Eliot climbed into the driver’s side of the van and fired it up.

“Sophie, we may need to take him to a hospital,” Eliot pointed out.

“You know what to do,” she almost pleaded with him.

“I do. It ain’t gonna be pretty.”

“What? Did they get him addicted to drugs or something?” Parker asked.

“What didn’t they do?”

Hardison could see the tears that formed in Parker’s eyes, but she quickly wiped them away before anyone else could see them.

Looking at Sophie, Hardison could also tell there was a lot more to the story then she was letting on.  It was almost like she couldn’t look at Nate without guilt. Sure, she had to play a pretty ruthless character in there to get them out safely.

“Soph, what’d they give him?” Eliot asked from the front seat.

“A five way.”

What in hell was that slang for, Hardison thought? Eliot seemed to know because he punched the steering wheel so hard it might have broken.

“Jesus fuckin’ Christ, Sophie. He needs to be in a hospital.”

“Get a doctor, whatever you might need. If he wakes up in a hospital, it might make him worse. It was only a week, right?”

“Doesn’t take much to addict a person.  And he already has a history. The first sign of any kind of distress, we are takin’ him. I don’t care if I have to strap him down to a bed.”

“You might have to anyway,” Sophie answered.

Nate was curled up in a ball in one of the corners of the van.  He kept flexing his hand in and out.

“Oh my god, he’s really high right now,” Parker said as she watched him like a hawk.

“And when he crashes, which he will sooner than later, it ain’t gonna be pretty,” Hardison told her as he grabbed Parker’s hand.

“There’s four of us. We can do this,” Parker pointed out to the other three.

Only Hardison didn’t know whether Sophie would be up for it just by looking at her. 

“Soph, did you?” Hardison started, hoping that she didn’t imbibe while she was there.

“No,” was her short answer.

“We have to go back. Soph, no. There you are. Annie. You played a good Annie.  You were good. You were.”

Sophie turned from Nate, not looking at him.  Whatever went on in that room, and Hardison had a pretty good idea from what Richie said, made Sophie so guilty she couldn’t even look at her husband. They needed her to help Nate through this. Without her, they might not be able to do it.


	7. The Guilt Stays Outside

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was going to be a long night.

Chapter Seven—The Guilt Stays Outside

Eliot needed to hit something, anything to tamp down the rage that flowed through his body.  This mark, this Richie character was bad news. What did Sterling think he was accomplishing by setting Nate and Hardison on him? And why did he not know?  Why was Eliot kept out of the loop, especially when there were too many guys in there with guns? His expertise was needed on this one, probably more than Nate’s was. Only Sterling picked Nate, who in turn called Hardison for some computer surveillance.  Shit, what a clusterfuck.

The fact that Sophie couldn’t even look at Nate told him that she must have done some crazy shit to keep them all alive.  He just hoped it didn’t come back to bite her in the ass. Annie Kroy.  It had been a long time since she played with that one. He’d been executed by her, so he’d know that she should have been avoided at all costs.  Only she was the one that kept them alive, so he couldn’t complain too much.

Drugs and arms dealers. They were just not equipped to deal with those kinds of criminals.  That’s what got them in to so much trouble in Boston.  And Nate got shot for his trouble, plus put in prison, by Sterling.  There are gonna be words after this was all over, Eliot surmised.  Sterling wouldn’t like it, but it needed to be done.

It had been many months since he’d seen either Sophie or Nate. They’d been busy at Leverage International while Nate and Sophie had traveled the world in search of something. Eliot didn’t know what, but Nate told him one time that when he found it, he’d share it with Eliot.

A little over a week of shooting a middle aged man up with hard drugs had to take a toll on Nate’s body.  And god knew what else Richie had done to Nate. By the looks of it, Eliot could see cuts and bruises too.  Probably meant he’d been beaten and possibly tortured. 

“Soph, how much do you think he gave him? Realistically?”

“He didn’t seem that bad before the last dose.”

“How? Do you know why?”

“Eliot, concentrate on driving,” Hardison warned as he heard car horns honking.

“God, that’s too loud,” Nate pronounced. 

“Can we give him something to help?” Parker asked.

“No drugs,” Nate roared back, now plastering his body against one of the doors.

“Nate, we’re not gonna give you anything you don’t want to take. Soph, Soph, tell him, please,” Hardison urged.

Only Sophie wasn’t talking, staring straight ahead.

 

How was she going to face him, help him through this when she felt like she was responsible?  She’d taken advantage of him, possibly violated him while he was high as a kite. He didn’t seem like he’d been using, but she couldn’t tell. She was only attempting to save him and Hardison.

Once he was through all of this, would he remember exactly what she’d done to him?  Sophie didn’t think he’d forgive her or even want to be around her after he survived detox. She should have checked him over more, asked that damned asshole what else he’d done. In addition to beating him, did he also rape Nate like he kept saying he would?  Nate never flinched from her touch, but if he was drugged, would he remember?

“Eliot, we need a doctor to check him over.”

“And we gonna get the best one there is to do that.”

Eliot at least was now paying attention to the road instead of weaving all over.

“Let’s get to the safehouse.  The doctor will be there shortly. Darlin’, are you ok? I mean, did he hurt you in any way?”

“Are you delicately trying to ask me if Richie touched me in any way? No, he did not, except for backhanding me once. I returned the favor. I have no idea if he touched Nate though. No idea.”

She could tell from her answer that Hardison didn’t believe her.

“Well, something happened in there,” Hardison mumbled, but Sophie heard him clear as day.

“How long since his last dose?” Eliot asked as they pulled into a driveway.

“An hour?  How long have we been driving?”

“Twenty minutes. God, this is going to be a long night.”

“You know what, Hardison, don’t touch me. You threw me over your shoulder. Just don’t touch,” Nate warned the younger man. “It felt weird and I don’t wanna feel weird. Soph, do you feel weird?”

Eliot sighed as he pulled up to a garage and parked.

“Whatever it is, whatever you’re feeling right now, put it aside. Now.  The guilt stays outside.  We gotta get him in there and make sure this stuff gets out of his system. Then you can deal with whatever shit will hit the fan.  And it will. I promise you it will.”

Eliot had whispered to her so that the others couldn’t hear. So he knew something bad went down. Hardison knew firsthand. Parker had no idea, but would guess sooner than later.

“Let’s get him inside,” Sophie announced.

Hardison pulled the doors open and tried to help Nate out of the van, but Nate wasn’t having any of it.

“Alright. Not touching.”

“You’re lucky I didn’t vomit down your back.”

“Just what I need,” Hardison whispered to Parker.

“Don’t worry, Hardison. You won’t be the only one he’ll be irritated with by the time this is all said and done,” Eliot reminded the hacker.

No, he’d be irritated with Sophie the most, in addition to hating her.

Instead of coming inside with them, Nate pulled away and dropped to the ground, laying spread eagle as he looked up at the clouds drifting by.

“I missed the outside. I really missed being outside. I don’t remember what it felt like.”

“Is he gonna be a drama queen too?” Parker asked.

“Yep. That’d be me,” Nate answered the question himself.


	8. Getting Through the First Minute

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nate starts his rehab.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know too much about coming down from drugs, but we all do know how Nate was in The Twelve Steps Job and what an asshole he was. What would he do for another hit? This could be a little OOC, so bear with me.

Chapter Eight—Getting Through the First Minute

Irritated wasn’t the word that Sophie would use.  Jackass might fit the bill right now as Nate was starting to suffer.  His body was starting to lose that high he’d had over the last week. Now it was her turn to figure out how to get him through the next few hours, days until he was coherent again. Once he was coherent, then they’d be in the clear.  At least they’d be in the clear on the addiction.  His mental health would still be a major issue.

“I want to go home. Are we home? Please tell me we’re home.”

“Yes, Nate.  We are home.”  Not their home, but at least some place safe.  “Parker is here.  Hardison is here.  Eliot is here. I’m here.  What more could you want?”

“What more could I want?” Nate answered, voice rising in the silence that was early morning.  “I’ll tell you what I want. I want you to stop bothering me. Give me what I want.”

“You know I can’t, Nate. You’re almost there, sweetheart.”

“Almost there? Bullshit.”

Of course, he wasn’t almost there, he was just starting.

“Here, I’ll get you a cool washcloth.”

“No,” Nate said emphatically. 

She’d told each one of them that no matter what happened, they would not interfere unless she said the safe word.  Interrupting what she wanted to accomplish wouldn’t work if Eliot raced into the room every single time Nate got a little out of hand.  Only one of them could watch at a time too. Only the one that was next to handle him could watch from the video feed. That way they wouldn’t burn out so quickly. Two hours at a time, then rest, unless the one helping gave a signal.  She most certainly didn’t want to quit if she was making progress.  Eliot had agreed, in principal. Well, if he was the one that was watching right now, he never would have agreed. Thank goodness it was Hardison.

Nate was almost never physical with her. She wouldn’t call him gentle per se, but careful might be the word. It was almost like he didn’t want to lose control with her, like he actually could if she let him.  Verbally he’d let loose too many times to count.  Maybe that’s why he never would challenge her physically.  He’d done enough damage throughout the years, but at least she healed from the many times he’d come after her with his words.

“You’re not listening,” Nate told her as he grabbed her hair and flipped her over to her back.

No safe word, no safe word, Sophie chanted. I can handle him this way. Soothing words flitted through her mind, but now was probably not the time to sooth him.

“You will do as I say. Let go of me,” Sophie told him, using her Annie Kroy voice.

Nate pushed her away, crawling over to the side of the bed. She could just hear Hardison sigh in her mind, even though she bet if she had on her ear bud, it would be ten times worse. She watched as Nate started to scratch his arm, like there was some irritant he needed to get rid of.  It would only get worse.

“We could, you know, pass the time.”

Sophie saw his feet dangling over the edge of the bed, watched as his eyes darted here and there around the room.

“I don’t think that’s what you need.”

“Maybe it’s what I want. You could do whatever you want to me.”

Sophie widened her eyes at that announcement. Hadn’t they already done too much in the past few days?  And did he just prostitute himself to her just so he could get out of the room to get a fix? The depths he would go to escape.

“What I want is for you to lie back and get some rest.”

Sitting next to him on the bed probably wasn’t the best idea, but she felt the need to be close to him.  Apologizing to him couldn’t take place yet, but she still felt the need to make sure he knew she was there for him, no matter what.  Getting over what had happened, what she’d done to him, might just break their relationship.

“You know you want me,” Nate whispered in her ear, making her shiver.  “Just let me get out of here and I can show you.”

And there it was.  Trading sex for freedom.

“Nate, until you’re free of the drugs in your system, you have to stay here. I’ve made that clear to you.”

“You did,” Nate reacted, eyes moving over her body.

Sophie was so glad that the alcohol that he imbibed in early on in their relationship didn’t make him act this way.  She wasn’t sure why the drugs were, possibly because of the mixture.  This wasn’t him. This most certainly was not Nate Ford.

“Still doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun.”

His hand had now reached her thigh, sliding up it. Sophie stopped his hand’s forward progress.

“Later. Much, much later.”

“You’re such a fucking tease,” he blasted at her, pushing her away from him to pace the room.

On most people, irritation would mean being whiny and bratty. On Nate, she could already tell it would be ten times worse. He was going to use his words to hurt more than he ever could just to see if they’d let him go, or possibly help ease his suffering by giving him another hit of the drugs.  Neither would happen, but it didn’t mean he wouldn’t try.

Sophie didn’t take the bait and answer him. Teasing and bantering had always been a part of their relationship, even back when they couldn’t touch.  And it was just that:  bantering. Neither was ready for anything serious, and the added fact that Nate was married to Maggie and had a child made that a serious threat.  Nate lived two lives back then. Now he was just a confused mess.

As he paced back and forth, twisting his hands here and there, she wondered when it was she’d fallen in love with him.  Lust was a certainty, especially when he chased her.  She’d never had let anyone else that near to her back then.  Nate was the closest friend she had, even though he’d threatened to put her in jail more times than not. 

Could they even stay friends after what had happened to them? She’d treated him horribly, pushed him to his limit, if just to save him. He’d never forgive her. Or maybe it was the fact that she wasn’t forgiving herself? It had felt good, living with Annie Kroy in her head.  His bruises, his demeanor had been exciting to Annie. Only it wasn’t Nate, not the real Nate.  How had she missed the fact that Richie had drugged him?


	9. Hallucinations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Parker plans the perfect murder while Nate starts hallucinating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A tiny bit of what Parker is thinking. And it's gonna get really bad before it gets better for Nate.

Chapter Nine—Hallucinations

They weren’t telling her what happened.  Parker knew, had guessed when she saw how bruised and beaten Nate was.  He wouldn’t come out of this unscarred, just like she hadn’t come out of her childhood whole. 

In her head, Parker was planning the perfect murder.  Richie would never see it coming.  He hurt Nate and deserved to die a horrible, painful death, preferably at her hands. He had violated Nate, which meant he had to pay.

Hardison had curled up next to her on a sofa in the room with the monitors.  She had suggested another shower since he really didn’t smell all that great from being held captive for a week even though he'd taken one already.  She’d take his shift and let him sleep. Checking him over, she wondered if Richie had tried anything with him too.  Hardison didn’t act like anything had happened, so she was thankful for that small favor.

Parker’s fists clinched in her lap as she watched Sophie trying to get through to Nate.  Nate was always so gentle with Sophie, except in words, but they’d stopped that bickering a long time ago.  She had never been afraid of Nate, but now she wasn’t so sure.  Did the drugs bring out the beast in him or was that always just below the surface?

Tipping her popcorn over, Parker ran for the door, hoping that Nate didn’t add to any bruises on Sophie. Sophie was so good at hiding them.

 

She needed to stop talking. He just wished she’d stop. Over and over in his head, all he could hear was Sophie telling him how awful he was.  He wanted it to just stop. Even when she quieted, the voices in his head didn’t stop.

“Nate,” he heard Parker shriek at him.

Nate’s hands untightened the hold they had on Sophie’s neck. Did he hurt her? He’d never forgive himself for hurting her.  Richie was there, in his mind, in the room and wanted to hurt him again.  The needle had come up in front of his face, making him lash out. Only he had disappeared as fast as he had appeared.

“I’m ok.  He thought I was Richie.”

“He’s gone?” Nate asked.

“He wasn’t there in the first place,” Parker told him as she looked at Sophie. “Come on.”

Nate watched as Parker led Sophie out of the room.

“Where are you going, Soph?”

Both women watched him warily as they made it to the door.

“Just get some rest,” Sophie urged him, not turning her back to him.

“You can’t leave.”

It hadn’t crossed his mind that he’d been the one to cause Sophie to be cautious.  What had he done?

“Just for a moment. I’ll be back.”

“No. You can’t leave,” he shouted.

“Nothing breakable left?” Parker turned to Sophie.

“Nothing sharp, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“What?” Nate started. “You think I’ll hurt myself? Just, just don’t.”

Richie stood not two feet to the side of Sophie and Parker.

“He’s here. He’s here.”

Both Parker and Sophie were now at the door.

“No one is here but us, Nate.  Just settle down.  I’ll be back shortly.”

Nate shook his head to clear it. Richie disappeared.

“You’re right.  I know, you’re right.”

“I’ll be right outside the door.”

Nate closed his eyes, knowing that Sophie wouldn’t leave him for very long.  Sinking down onto the bed, he hugged his legs tightly against his body, willing the ache in his joints to go away.  He just wanted to go back to the way it was a mere week ago, when he and Sophie were happy. Were they happy? Sophie had said they were. She had acted like they were. Was she lying?

“Soph, please tell me you love me. Please tell me you love me.”

“Why would someone love a jerk like you?” his father whispered in his ear.  “Your mother didn’t.  You were a failure and still are.”

“You couldn’t save him. You couldn’t save our marriage. Sam would be here right now if it wasn’t for you.”

Maggie. Oh god, Maggie, he thought. She thought he caused Sam to die.  Didn’t he?

“You should have died along with him,” Sterling proposed.

“I did die. I did,” Nate cried out.

“Booze didn’t do you in. Now you gotta deal with drugs. You fucked up, old man.”  Eliot paced around him.  “Remember how many times I had to save your sorry ass? Not gonna do it this time.”

“You fucked up, man.  You are a fuck up. Can’t let a man handle a job, do all your work for you?” Hardison was always jealous that Nate took charge.

“You used me. Damaged me even more. Didn’t you understand what it would do?” Parker told him, standing over him on the bed.

“Oh, my beautiful boy. What happened to you?  You let yourself go. You weren’t in the game anymore and Richie got the jump on you.  Poor, pitiful you.  Look at you now.  An old man with a drug habit. Think you’ll get out of this one?  I don’t know what I saw in you.”

Sophie, as she was so many years ago, young and alive and ready to give him a merry chase.  Her red dress hugged all the right places. Richie’s hand traveled down her back, her waist, to pull her next to him.

“Did you think that I wouldn’t stray?  Your body, your mind. Not what it used to be.”

“I’ll do better,” Nate begged.

“Too late.  I want Richie now. And possibly Eliot too.”

Nate looked at his arms, saw the bruising and the healing cuts.

“What can I do to make it up to you?”

“Bugger off, Ford.  No one wants you around,” Richie commented as he pulled Sophie to him.

“But we, Sophie, we…”

“We what?  Thought I’d stay?  You could always go back to being a priest?  You fuck like one.”

Richie’s hands were all over Sophie’s body now, making her moan with pleasure.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you. Please, Sophie.”

No matter what he said, they didn’t listen.  Parker sat next to him and smiled. Eliot leaned against the wall, arms crossed, a look of disgust on his face. Hardison just sighed, rubbing his hand over his face.  Sophie groaned out loud, wicked smile on her red lips as Richie inched up her dress.

“You’re not worth it,” Eliot announced as he started to leave.

“Don’t leave.  Please.”

As Nate closed his eyes tightly, he wished they all would listen to him. He knew he could do better to make them stay, make them care about them the way he cared about them. As he slowly reopened his eyes, he noticed they were suddenly gone.

Hallucinations. It must be hallucinations. The drugs, the damn drugs were making him see and do things he’d never do. As he looked down at his hands, it was then that he realized what he’d done to Sophie.

“Sophie,” he screamed. “Sophie.”


	10. Let Him Be, For Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short interlude with everyone discussing what to do with Nate.

Chapter Ten—Let Him Be, For Now

“Let me see,” Parker asked as they exited the room.

“I’m fine.”

“So says the woman with bruises forming on her neck.”

“He just, he got a little physical. I’m fine. I have to go back in there.”

Sophie understood what Nate had done to her. Nate most certainly would not understand that he had hurt her.

“He didn’t even know it was me.”

“Which means you need to stay out of there for now.”

“Hey, so what…” Eliot started, but stopped short when he saw Sophie’s neck. “This is what I was afraid of.”

“He’s fine.”

Eliot pointed to the both of them.  “No one goes in there unless I’m around. Got it? He’s hallucinating right now. Could last days. Just trust me on this.”

“Personal experience?” Sophie shot back.

“Sophie, come on,” Parker urged the woman not to press.

“I have never used. I may be fucked up, but I’ve never used. I saw too many of my buddies lose their shit, ok? Is that what you want to know?  Soph, I know this is bad, all sorts of bad.  But we gotta stick to the plan, which means no one goes in there for at least twenty-four hours without backup.  It’s not him in there. It’s the drugs. Just let me handle this.”

Both Parker and Eliot turned their heads at Nate’s screaming Sophie’s name.

“I have to go back in there,” she announced.

“No, you do not. Give him some time. I’ll go in there myself.”

“Isn’t there something we can give him?” Parker asked.

Sophie couldn’t deal. She had to help Nate in any way possible.

“He’s not in a hospital. There’s no way to monitor him.”

“We have to do something,” Sophie sobbed.

“Just let him be for a while,” Eliot softly told her, holding out a hand to steady her.

“Moving on to phase two,” Hardison said from the seat by the monitor.  “I’m ok. I’ll watch for now. Y’all get some rest. It’s gonna be a long day or night. Whatever time it is.”


	11. Sophie Blames Herself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sophie goes through some soul searching with Eliot.

Chapter Eleven—Sophie Blames Herself

Sophie watched until she couldn’t see straight.  Nate would go from yelling to crying to begging for her forgiveness.  She wondered if he would remember all that happened after this was said and done.  He’d blame himself for everything that had transpired, including getting caught by the bad guy and what had taken place from that time forward. 

“You can’t blame yourself, Soph,” Eliot said quietly behind her.  “You did what you had to do to survive.  Nate will understand that.”

“There’s enough blame to spread around.”

“I’m not sure what happened in there…”

“And you don’t want to know.  If I had known, his state of mind. I hurt him, purposely.”

Eliot sat down next to her, took one of her hands in his. “You saved him, definitely on purpose.  He doesn’t take that lightly. Thinks he has to save the world or something.”

It actually hurt to talk about this. Her chest hurt just thinking about what could have happened if her persona had not held up to scrutiny.

“They tortured him, shot him up with drugs, beat him.  Maybe more.”

Eliot looked down at the ground, then at their joined hands.  “And it’s the maybe more that bothers you the most.”

“That I participated in the maybe more? That there’s a good possibility that asshole could have…,” Sophie choked out, not able to finish her thought.

“You gave him a safe space,” Eliot started, only to be interrupted by Sophie.

“I gave him a safe space?  I suggested me instead of Richie. It was my idea.  He was going to do it himself. He got off on hurting Nate.”

Eliot watched the screen as Nate huddled in the corner, head on his knees.

“So for one fleeting second, as Annie Kroy, you got off on it too?”

“I disappear into those roles so often. Annie would have enjoyed hurting Nate.”

“You’re not Annie Kroy,” Eliot finally yelled. “Just like Parker isn’t Alice White. You can pull yourself out any time, you can stop at any time. Imagine not being able to stop.  Imagine what it’s like to see no way out. Annie was a means to an end. That’s all.”

“Is that what you experienced?  You felt you couldn’t pull yourself out of that life, with Moreau?”

Eliot paced around Sophie, like a caged animal ready to strike.  She knew he never would, even when she pushed his buttons like she was now.

“You don’t want to know what I was capable of.”

“Was being the operative word.  I dug my fingers into his wounds and enjoyed it.”

“Nate Ford gloated for a living. Don’t you think by now you’re both a little sadistic?”

Sophie leaned back against the lumpy sofa, eyes feeling like she had gravel in them from lack of sleep. 

“You think he’ll forgive me?”

“Sweetheart, the first thing he’ll ask you is to forgive him.”

Eliot was right. Nate will take the blame and absolve her from anything that happened.  She’d bloody well not agree to that and tell him so the first chance she got when he was sober.

“Doctor?”

“Should be here soon.  I just didn’t want someone poking around when he was agitated.”

“He seems to have calmed down a bit in the past fifteen minutes.”

“Lull before another storm?”

Sophie laughed at the irony that could be Nate Ford.

“I’m gonna need to know exactly what happened in there, Soph.”

She was afraid of that, of telling Eliot that she went too far to save both Hardison and Nate.

“I made connections to find the two of them. Richie runs guns in addition to other nefarious trades such as smuggling drugs and human trafficking.  Annie Kroy had a few connections to the gun running, so I used those.  When I got in there I could tell it could go south at any moment. Hardison was lucky to not have gotten hurt. Richie’s attention was solely on Nate for some reason.  His fascination with Nate was downright scary.”

“I wonder if there was some sort of previous contact?  Was he ever on Nate’s list to take down?”

“We took down CEO’s, not common criminals. People like Richie would have been held in check in Moreau’s day.”

Eliot inhaled sharply at Sophie’s revelation. “It would have been a bullet to the head for Nate instead.”

Eliot would have been the instrument that delivered that blow, but Sophie wasn’t going to point out that elephant in the room.

“He seemed obsessed with Nate. So I turned his attention elsewhere.”

“You played to his voyeuristic tendencies?”

“I inserted myself instead of Richie. You would have done the same for Hardison.”

Oh, Eliot didn’t think she knew about his and Hardison’s relationship. Adding on Parker too. She often wondered when they’d become something more.

“I would have done the same thing for Nate, or you, if I had to.”

Now wasn’t that interesting.

“Sophie, I use my body every day to protect this crew. There are often many ways to achieve that. As I told you before you and Nate left on your journey of discovery,” Eliot said as he put journey of discovery in air quotes, “that I’d lay down my life for any of you, not just Parker and Hardison.  Getting naked would have been the least of my worries.”

“He offered Nate up on a silver platter to me, no holds barred, anything goes.  He saw me as a sort of soulmate, like I’d treat Nate just as he was treating him or going to treat him. I played to his vanity and secured Nate for myself. I have no idea what I would have done if he had made the same play for Hardison.”

“Well, he didn’t.”

Sophie turned to look at Nate again, hoping that he’d get out of this with some scars and a new appreciation for retirement along with some forgiveness for her.

“No, he did not.”

“So, go claim him back. Let Nate know that he’s yours, once he gets cleaned up.”

“But what if,” Sophie started to ask, but stopped short, not wanting to know the answer to her rhetorical question.

“If you play the what if game, you’ll never win.  It was enough that Richie beat the ever living shit out of Nate for days on end and shot him up with some damn cocktail that could have killed him.  He may not even remember.”

“What if he does?” Sophie asked as she stared at the screen.


	12. Sterling Gets Information

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a reason Sterling was going after Richie.

Chapter Twelve—Sterling Gets Information

“Now one more time, Rich.”

Richie did not look all that well.  One could say he now sported more bruises than Nate did. At least he didn’t have rope burns. No, it was handcuffs all the way for what Jim Sterling had in store for Richard Willems, aka Richie the sleaze.

“I don’t know what the fuck you’re on about.”

“Oh, I do believe you do know what I’m on about, dear Rich. And if I don’t get some answers, well, let’s just say I know someone who is even better with a knife than I am.”

Sterling twirled the knife very close to Richie’s face.

“I’ve lost four good agents, had to mount a rescue.”

“What? Your boyfriend? Want me to tell you how good it was to have him?”

Sterling smashed Richie’s face into the table, hard.  Blood spurted out of the guy’s mouth.

“Fuckin’ A. What do you care? Kroy didn’t seem to care.”

“Oh, she cared alright.  You’re lucky she’s not in here. You’d be lucky to have those tiny balls left between your legs.”

“You wanna know how much he screamed as I cut him, time after time?  How he was begging for his next hit?”

Sterling swung out, hitting Richie in the jaw.

“You’ve still ignored my request,” Sterling asked, face now beside Richie’s bleeding face.  “I need the name and location. And if I don’t get what I want, it will not be pretty for you.”

“You’re gonna kill me anyway.  This ain’t government sanctioned down here.”

“You’re right. It’s not. Oooh, rogue agent. Name and location?”

Richie laughed until Sterling pulled back on one of his fingers, probably breaking it in several places. After screaming for what seemed like twenty minutes, Richie finally did give him the information he was asking.

“I gave it to you, you son of a bitch.”

“You’re right. You did. And if the information does pan out, I’ll put a bullet to your head instead of giving you to Kroy. And no, he’s not my boyfriend. Never was.”

Not that Sterling wouldn’t have minded if Nate swung that way.  But he didn’t and Sterling never pushed it.  Nate Ford had a way of drawing you in, turning your way of thinking just slightly off kilter.  Sterling had been trying to right himself ever since.

“Did you?” Sterling asked out loud.

“Fuck him? Why don’t you ask him yourself?”

And there went another broken finger.

 


End file.
